Martyrs of the islands We were being showed around the old Navuloa Theological Institution by Daku villager and the herald (matanivanua) of the Roko Takala, Joji Baleitai. Navuloa was the Methodist Churchs old theological college before it was moved to Davuilevu in the early 1900s. Baleitai led us to what looked like a well-kept lawn but the closer we went, I finally made it out to be an old foundation of a great house. In the middle, stands a simple four sided concrete structure which looks like an obelisk and Baleitai made straight for it and with a sweep of his hand explained that we are standing on hallowed ground. Speaking in his native dialect, Baleitai described the passion of the students who attended Navuloa and how they went on to become some of the very first native Pacific islanders who became pioneering missionaries. This used to be the church and the place where the students of Navuloa also used as their classroom and this was the place where several of its students became the first missionaries to take Christianity to the other parts of the Pacific. There is a story about these men as it was said that they were asked on this very place if they were willing to volunteer in taking the gospel to dangerous places. They were told that if any of them was willing to risk their lives to take a step forward, they all stepped forward, Baleitai said. The more Baleitai explained about these men and exhorting their bravery, I could not help but wonder that in only a few decades after accepting Christianity, Fiji was sending out its first missionaries in 1875. That is just six years after missionary Thomas Baker was killed and eaten by cannibals in the highlands of Viti Levu and just a few months after Fiji was ceded to Great Britain. A book authored by Australian biographer Margaret Reeson about a European missionary George Brown contained most, if not all the texts and information available about these pioneering missionaries from Fiji. Titled, Pacific Missionary George Brown 1835 — 1917, Reesons book was gleaned from the Methodist Church records and correspondence between Brown and many of his colleagues during this trying period. Reeson chronicled Browns New Mission, which was retained by the Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma as its own mission field and continued to send Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands right into the 20th century. It was this George Brown an Englishman who became a born again Christian in New Zealand and later became a minister and missionary that led the nine Fijian teachers, some with their wives and children on their mission to the islands what are now known as the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Browns mission to New Britain and New Ireland was a first and had its fair share of opposition and obstacles through its entirety, especially following the decision to use Fijian, Tongan and Samoan missionaries. The measles outbreak of 1875 claimed many Wesleyan church members in Fiji and more importantly, nine native ministers and two hundred catechists - the very men whom Brown was counting on to spearhead the New Mission. Despite the measles, Brown intends to continue but changing his plans for the New Mission and this was where the students of Navuloa Theological Institution came into the story. Reeson said 38 Fijian theological students, many of them still recovering from measles, listened to Brown about the dream of going to a people who were known to be barbarous but had never heard the name of Christ. Browns meeting with the students of Navuloa took place where Baleiwai took us to and it was a turning point in the history of the institution. Reeson continued and said the students were told that the northern islands was where cannibals lived and did not live by the rule of law. The climate harbours such diseases such as malaria, food would be unfamiliar and above all, they would be isolated in an unfamiliar land. Navuloa principal Joseph Waterhouse interrupted Brown and urged the students to pause and consider the proposition first before they give an answer. In later years the dramatic story of the Fijian students response to the appeal for missionaries would be told and retold. At the time, Brown wrote simply, We had plenty of volunteers from the students; in fact they all volunteered. The impressive old missionary from Tonga, Joeli Bulu, with memories of his many hard years of struggle in wild and cannibal Fiji, rose to challenge the young men to imagine a day when the people of wild and cannibal New Britain also would be changed by the power of the gospel of Christ. Nine men, six of them with wives and families, were chosen from the many and within days were on their way to Levuka ready to sail, Reeson wrote. Even after obtaining volunteers from Fiji, Brown had to convince the newly established British colonial government that the Fijians, as British subjects should know what they have involved themselves in and if any harm befell them, the colony would be answerable to the Home Government. One of the chosen missionaries and who later distinguished himself in his calling, Nasaqalau villager from Lakeba Island in the Lau Group, Aminio Baledrokadroka replied to the pleas of the Fiji colonial government officials. One of the Fijians, Aminio Baledrokadroka, replied and Brown described the scene, as Aminio with deep feeling said that they were not surprised at what they had just been told, that it was not a new thing to them, as they had heard it all before from the missionaries before they volunteered for the service. He said, We have fully considered this matter in our hearts; no one has pressed us in any way. We have given ourselves up to do this work, and if we die, we die and if we live we live, Reeson wrote. The missionaries left Fiji on June 15, 1875 on board the John Wesley for Samoa where they picked up more teachers before they headed north towards their new mission home - Kinawanua. The teachers from Samoa and Fiji settled in well and the first nine teachers from Fiji were sent out to their various posts in New Britain and New Ireland. In the next two years, more Pacific Island teachers arrived and the whole missionary party along with their families had to contend with diseases, hostile natives and a lot of hard work to establish themselves and their passion. Brown had been absent for a year when he returned in August 1877 and recorded mixed feelings as far as the mission was progressing and the persistent rumours of murdered and injured or sick teachers always found its way to his ears. Early in 1778 after being part of an exploration expedition Brown was supposed to have travelled around the various posts to visit sick and dying teachers but that did not eventuate when the dreaded news reached him one evening. Reeson said that a voice in the darkness from outside his window told him of the murder of the four Fijians. He heard a tap on the window. From the darkness a voice said, I have just heard that the New Britain natives have murdered Sailasa and some teachers. Brown later noted in his journal that rumours of plans to murder the women and children made his blood boil and to the sorrows and grief of Sailasas widow all he said was, twas little use trying to speak any trite words of comfort and we could only sit silent with them as sharers of their sorrow. On top of this the chief Taleli whose cannibalistic deed claimed the lives of the teachers had sent messages taunting the traders and missionaries that he was not afraid of any wart ship, that he could dodge the bullets of any musket and that the wives of Brown and the teachers should expect the unspeakable as he had planned to eat more victims and was especially anxious to get Brown. He observed that the Fijian and Samoan teachers and concluded that, their significant sullen silence that their feelings were so deeply moved that they were no longer masters of their passions. Brown was right, as the teachers planned an expedition to Talelis village and two Europeans even agreed to accompany them. He had to make a moral decision whether to give the permission to the teachers retribution party or to ask them to refrain and fear the loss of more missionary and white men lives. * Adapted from, Pacific Missionary George Brown 1835-1917, by Margaret Reeson which has been published on the Australian National University online portal: press.anu.edu.au.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 02:20:34 +0000
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